India Travel Myths Debunked

India is an amazing country, with a superfluity of beautiful landscapes, diverse cultures, a rich history and an incredibly warm and welcoming population. However, those in need of passport renewal to travel to India will always be bombarded with a lot of myths about certain untruths about the great country of India.

It is imperative that if you want to have a great trip to India, you should learn to sift the truth from the lies and myths, or else you will be feeding up your mind and expectations with the wrong information. In this piece, we take a look at some of the myths, misconceptions, and lies you are likely to hear about India and we reveal to you the exact truth and what you should expect during your trip to India.

It is unsafe to travel to India

There are some publications that rate India as unsafe, especially for traveling by solo women or ladies. This is entirely not true and it is nothing but a malicious way to try to depict the country in a bad light to discourage people from visiting. The truth is that India is one of the safest countries for all types of travelers and you will always meet warm and welcoming population. But just as when traveling to any country, it is important to take the necessary precautions to stay safe. This includes being careful about the places you visit, the times you visit them, how you handle your money and all the basic things you would do to guarantee your safety in any country. India isn’t any different.

India is always hot

It is not entirely true that India is always hot. India experiences both summers and winters and so the climatic conditions vary. It is true that the summer months can sometimes get really hot until the tar on the tarmac roads begins to peel off, but it is also true that sometimes there could be snow in India, especially in the regions towards the north. So don’t buy the lie that India is always hot and when coming, you should prepare yourself for some sweltering temperatures and high humidity.

All foods have chili

One thing you have to appreciate about Indian foods is that most, but not all of them are spicy. Most Indians enjoy their foods with a lot of spices, and there are many places that serve such kinds of foods. But if you are not the type that likes a lot of chili in their foods, then you should not be afraid to travel to India because there are plenty of foods that don’t have chili. If you don’t want the chili, you simply request the cook or the service to not include chili in your meal and they will gladly oblige.

India is a poor country

The media has successfully managed to drill into people’s minds that India is a poor country and this is due to the ever-circulating photos of Indians walking barefoot, living in hut houses and begging on the streets. But if you to be asked which country doesn’t have beggars or people walking with barefoot, especially in the interiors, you would find that there are so many such countries in the world. If some Indians are walking barefoot, begging or living in poor houses, it doesn’t mean that the entire country is poor. Poverty is a global concern and you will find it in even very developed economies. So don’t allow yourself to be sold the poor side of India.

India is suffering from overpopulation

India is the home to about 1.2 billion people, and this makes it a fairly populous country, and in fact, it is the second most populated country in the world after China. However, it is not true that every state you will visit in India will suffer from overpopulation or that all the places in India are always full of people. Before you adopt such a line of thought, you should consider the landmass of India and you will find that it is a very big country.

Secondly, it is true that the urban areas are fairly populated, and this is just the major cities. But such is expected in most cities around the globe. If you move away from the major cities or towards the rural areas, you will surely discover that there is nothing like India suffering from overpopulation.

Indians don’t eat meat, they are all vegetarians

If you love food and you are going for passport renewal to travel to India, then this myth would be a complete turn-off. But the truth is that it is just a myth – all Indians are not vegetarians and they actually do eat meat. You will be amazed at some of the meat, fish, chicken and pork dishes you will find India. The country is a foodie’s haven and there is always a variety of meals, including both for vegetarians and non-vegans. But it is true that due to certain religious considerations, some Indians don’t eat meat, especially beef.

Communication is a barrier in India

If you don’t understand the local language of the cities or countries you are traveling to, the communication will always be a barrier unless you get a local guide, so this is not a problem that is unique to India alone. However, most Indians can speak good if not fluent English and for most people, given that English is an international language, you won’t find any problem communicating in India. In fact, in high tourist areas, you will find the local speak other languages as well, with the major ones being French, Russian, and German amongst others.

There are high chances that you will be scammed

Again this is not a problem unique to India and is nothing but a creation of the media to paint India in a bad light. Scammers are everywhere and there are always high chances of getting scammed in any country you will ever visit. All you have to do is take the necessary precaution so that you don’t fall a victim. If you are not careful, however, the scammers are real and will you really hard when you don’t expect it, should you lower your guard.

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